John Leonard Net Worth: How Rich is the Man Who Sued Pepsi?

John Leonard is an American former chief mountaineering ranger. He is best known for suing a soft drink giant, Pepsi for a $23 million fighter jet. John came into the limelight after Netflix premiered its four-part docuseries, Pepsi, Where’s My Jet? on November 17, 2022. As of 2022, John Leonard net worth is roughly around $1 million.

Early Life

John Leonard was born in 1974 in Seattle, Washington. Not much is known about his parents, early life, and education. However, it is known that his mother’s name is Linda Leonard. His parents used to run a small business when he was young.

John’s mom has described him as a go-getter who always used to work at some place. In the Netflix original, his mother mentioned that her son has worked as a glass cutter, paper boy, magazine seller, climbing guide, and window washer.

John reportedly studied at the community college and pursued a business degree from there. From an early age, he enjoyed his independence and liked being out in the mountains.

John Leonard Net Worth & Career

In February 1996, John came across a commercial advertisement from Pepsi, which state that if anyone collects 7 million labels that person would be eligible for a brand new Harriet jump jet. John started to bring a lot of the beverages into his house by the truckload and drank a lot of them with his family.

Later, John saw a disclaimer that revealed that consumers could rather buy Pepsi Points for 10 cents each than collect labels. By doing so, anyone could get a $23 million Harrier jump jet for just $700,000. Then, he happened to meet a charismatic millionaire, Todd Hoffman, who was then in his 40s. He had become friends with Hoffman when he was on a mountaineering trip. When Leonard told that he needed $700,000 to get a fighter jet from a fizzy drink company, Todd surprisingly showed interest in the crazy scheme idea.

Following that, Hoffman and Leonard looked at the videotape of the commercial. The two just kept looking at the ad over and over again. Meanwhile, Pepsi was never serious about the advertisement. In fact, they posed it as just a joke. Nevertheless, John, who was 21 by then truly believed that the beverage firm’s deal of a Harriet Jet in exchange for 7 million Pepsi points. After putting in a lot of effort, they managed to collect 7m points, however, in return, they didn’t get a Harriet Jet.

Leonard then sued Pepsi in an attempt to get a jet as they promised in the advertisement. In the Netflix series, a Peipsi spokesperson mentioned that out of millions only one person actually tried to redeem the jet offer, who was Leonard. John eventually lost the legal battle in 1999. After that, he focused purely on his innate passion for climbing mountains.

In 1999, he started working as a backcountry ranger for Mount Rainier National Park. After 3 years, he began serving as a mountaineering ranger at Denali National Park in Alaska. As of now, he works at the DC Bureau of the National Park Service.

Personal Life

John Leonard is now a family man who is married to a lady named Dottie. He and his better half share two growing kids together, a son and a daughter. John currently lives with his family in Talkeetna, Alaska. His wife is known to be St. Louis, the Missouri native. Leonard has moved all his focus into his family and passion after losing the Pepsi legal battle. He and his family seem to be doing well in their life.

John Leonard Net Worth

John Leonard’s net worth is estimated to be around $1 million as of 2022. He has most probably gathered a huge amount from working as a mountaineering ranger. John, as a mountain ranger was responsible to keep the mountain climbers safe and the mountain clean. Leonard has also served as the Acting South District Ranger at Denali Nationa Park. Regardless of the fact that he didn’t receive a $23 million jet, he seems to be happy in his profession right now.